Good Quality Backpacks

Mike and I still travel with the backpacks that we bought as teenagers. Having your hands free is critical for us when travelling with our kids. Mike always has a bag on his back (and often one on his front) but he can still hold a hand when crossing the street!

Newer models of our backpacks have dropped in quality so we do not recommend those brands anymore. We do however love Isabella’s Osprey bag. When buying a bag, we look for well-made strong zippers and well sewn edging. It’s also great to have a bag that opens fully rather than only at the top.

Julie travels with a Fjallraven Kanken because we could not resist buying her one.

Stroller

Keep it simple and bring an umbrella stroller. We used the Maclaren “Globetrotter” which no longer exists as a model but there are similar variations. We had it for 3+ years. We loved the lightweight nature of the stroller and that it folds down to a slim bundle that easily fits in a car. Yet, it has features such as an under stroller carrier and sun shade which made it work for us. What about when you’re traveling with two babies? We actually used to bring two small strollers instead of a giant one. Giant strollers are so difficult when traveling. We preferred having two tiny ones and each pushing a kid as opposed to having a wide difficult to maneuver one.

Ceptics World Travel Adapter Kit

You never know how many plugs a room will have. This was our all-in-one kit that allowed us to plug 4 things in at once. It always works and saves us a lot of hassle. The USB ports mean that we can easily charge phones or watches at the same time as laptops and tablets.

Wise Owl Microfiber Towels

Are they as good as a normal towel? No. But they are about the size of a tablet and they dry you off when you have no other choice. We travelled with three of these and Paige has a Tofino towel which doubled as a blanket when we needed it to (see below).

Tofino Towel

This was a multi-purpose item for us. When we camped, it could be a towel. When we were on the beach, it was a sarong. When we took train rides, it could be a blanket. We also love that it is a Canadian brand.

Laundry Bag

This is essential when travelling with kids. You are going to do laundry more than you think and you may need to transport the load. Don’t think a compartment of your bag will suffice, this makes life easier.

Packing Cubes

We always mixed more than one individual in a suitcase/backpack and used colour-coded packing cubes to keep clothes organized. Again, strong zippers and lightweight materials and key factors in choosing the best ones. We carried some expensive ones but also had some cheap ones from the dollar store which also worked.

Splitter-Wired Headphones

We had these headphones which have an audio splitter which became a parent’s best friend. Kids could watch on a single tablet or screen in an airplane and the sound could be split to two headsets. For us, this meant that we did not have to listen to “Easy-Bake Battle” for the 11th time but the kids could both watch at the same time. Our 5 year old could watch whatever the 8 year old was doing without asking us to help put on a show. Without this we would would have been hardpressed to travel with only one tablet.

Carseat

This is a complicated topic. We’re from Canada which means that we will bring our baby carseat with us when we travel within the Americas. But if we go to Europe or Asia or Australia, we do not. Ours are not legal there (different rules and accreditations). We have tried many different options to acquire car seats and, quite honestly, none of them are simple or easy. Options we’ve tried: renting from car company, renting elsewhere or even buying. Renting from a car company is likely the simplest option but it is pricey with car rental companies often charging $20 plus per day per seat. We’ve also tried renting from companies in European countries that rent only baby gear – a great option if you have the flexibility. The weekly rental price is often less than 2 days at the car rental company and you get better safer gear. Lots of cities have companies that do this. We’ve also bought carseats on Amazon when we arrived somewhere (assuming you can safely take transit from the airport). As my kids got older, we did this for booster seats because you could often find one that could be delivered to your hotel door for less than a single day car rental price.

Games

When you travel for an extended time with kids, games are quite important for your sanity. When the kids are tired and you know that dinner will not be served for another 20 minutes, pulling out a game brightens everyone’s spirit. Obviously physical size of game is important and these are some of our favourites (believe or not we carried all of them).

• Uno : Ages 4+
• Skip Bo: Ages 5+
• Monopoly Deal: Ages 5+
• Hive: Ages 8+
• Cards: Any age
• Memory: Age 3+
• Yahtzee: Age 5+
• Guess Who: Age 3+ (Great for road trips)